On 20 Aug 2011 several civil pilots reported a glowing expanding object over Shanghai, with Beijing sightings the same night; no launch that night appears in McDowell's launch catalogue
Documented · occurred What these labels mean →Around 9pm on Saturday 20 Aug 2011, several civil aviation pilots reported a huge glowing object above Shanghai to the East China Air Traffic Control Bureau, and observers in Beijing photographed an 'expanding round white cloud' that faded within minutes. A Beijing Planetarium official said it 'might be caused by the substances emitted by military devices or satellites'; an amateur astronomer suggested a rocket or satellite launch. Jonathan McDowell's launch catalogue (GCAT, which includes suborbital and missile tests) lists no launch between the 18 Aug 2011 failures (Ekspress AM-4, Long March 2C/SJ-11-04) and 22 Aug; classified missile tests may be absent from any public catalogue. The source's '10+ pilots' is reported as 'several'.
Evidence
| Relation | Record | Note |
|---|---|---|
| documents | china.org.cn | China.org.cn, 23 Aug 2011: 'spotted by several civil aviation pilots who reported the sightings to the East China Air Traffic Control Bureau' around 9pm Saturday; Beijing Planetarium official Zhan Xiang: 'might be caused by the substances emitted by military devices or satellites' |
| documents | planet4589.org | McDowell GCAT launch list (orbital + suborbital/test, updated 2 Oct 2026): entries 17-18 Aug 2011 (Dnepr; Proton-M/Ekspress AM-4; CZ-2C SJ-11-04 failure), none 19-22 Aug 2011 |
| documents | china.org.cn | China.org.cn |
Sources
| Source | Relation | At |
|---|---|---|
| China UFO files (Cappy Army 2026) | reports |
Claim
Around 9pm on Saturday 20 Aug 2011, several civil aviation pilots reported a huge glowing object above Shanghai to the East China Air Traffic Control Bureau, and observers in Beijing photographed an 'expanding round white cloud' that faded within minutes. A Beijing Planetarium official said it 'might be caused by the substances emitted by military devices or satellites'; an amateur astronomer suggested a rocket or satellite launch. Jonathan McDowell's launch catalogue (GCAT, which includes suborbital and missile tests) lists no launch between the 18 Aug 2011 failures (Ekspress AM-4, Long March 2C/SJ-11-04) and 22 Aug; classified missile tests may be absent from any public catalogue. The source's '10+ pilots' is reported as 'several'.